Nine Lives
by XdrippingXbloodX
Summary: A chance encounter in the rain changes a certain red-head's life. Summary sucks I know. Rating is for possible future chapters, though it may change. Human!Gaara x Neko!Lee


**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters**

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Why couldn't his friends just shut up about it? Really, was it _that_ entertaining? Because he couldn't see the punch line in this joke.

"S-so *snicker* so what about that ass then?" his 'best friend' Naruto busted out laughing as he fell from his chair. Gaara and his 'supposed' friends had decided to go out for dinner, and unfortunately for Gaara, the establishment also sold various types of alcoholic drinks so that his friends could get, literally, drunk off their asses. Gaara probably would not have minded his buddies banter about his sexual orientation if he had decided to get drunk too, however someone had to drive their drunken asses home. Yes, Gaara was gay and was currently without a piece of ass to fuck. So, his friends thought they would help him by pointing out random men in the restaurant and shouting out if that was what he wanted. Now the red head did not care if the whole world knew he liked men, but he did not like how obnoxious his friends were acting about it, that and he was not after a one night stand with a random whore.

"Naw, come on Naruto, you know Gaara likes those tan booties" Sasuke chuckled as Naruto sat himself back on the stool. Gaara felt like punching him in his arrogant face. One night, just one fucking night, they convinced him to get drunk and he accidently slipped that he preferred Naruto's tan body to Sasuke's pale one. They still brought it up when they were blitzed with booze, even Naruto, if only because all his friends knew he did not like any of them like that.

"All right," Naruto slurred, "what about...that one?" he pointed to a man sitting a few feet from them.

"Are you blind," Shikamaru hiccupped, "can you not see the wife and children with him?"

"Yeah, besides that one by the bar is way more buff" Kiba snickered.

"It is not always about the muscles" Neji mumbled.

"Well then what does a gay guy look for in another guy, huh?" Naruto very loudly asked. Gaara was about ready to just say fuck it and have them drive their own drunken asses' home. There was no way he was going to stay and have to listen them have an argument in what a gay guy wanted. Luckily for the drunks, and Gaara, Sakura, one of the boys' friends, walked in and noticed them.

"Hey guys, what are you doing here?" she asked politely. Gaara saw his window of opportunity and spoke before any of the other idiots known as his friends could.

"I was just about to leave. Sakura, do you mind driving these guys home?" he said while packing his left over food in a doggy bag. Not waiting for her to answer, he thanked her quickly before she could object or his friends could point out another male they had not already screamed about. And they said he was gay.

The annoyed red-head left the establishment and started his walk down the sidewalk. Kiba had been the one to pick them all up in his car, so Gaara really had no choice but to walk the three miles to his apartment. He thanked all that was holy that he did not live clear on the other side of town like Shikamaru. He imagined the laziest man on Earth, no exaggerating, walking all the way from here to his home. The thought put a small smile on Gaara's face.

As he walked, he breathed in the cool crisp air of the evening. The sun had already set and a few stars were starting to join in with the crescent moon. The view of the little pinpoints did not last however, since storm clouds soon obscured the sky and rain fell to the Earth like tears. Gaara cursed as the rain turned into a downfall and he did not have an umbrella or a hood to block it from hitting him. He pulled up the collar of his black jacket and ran down the flooded sidewalk wanting to get home faster. When he came across a deserted alleyway the redhead stopped and wondered if he should take this route as a shortcut, or keep going the main way. His soaked clothes and impatient attitude decided for him as he took off into the shadowed alley.

It actually isn't that smart to start sprinting in a spooky alleyway in the middle of the night with the rain clattering all around you, but it is not like Gaara thought about that when he took off. His feet made a constant wet thumping sound as he headed towards the other end of the lane, while almost falling down a couple of times due to his speed and the slippery pavement. He should have thanked whatever deity existed when he could see the end of the alley but he was too busy thinking of a warm apartment with warm, leftover food. When he reached the end, he stopped to catch his breath after such a long run. While bending over with his hands on his knees and head bent, he heard a clatter from behind him that had him shooting up looking over his shoulder for the cause of the sound.

At first glance it appeared that the alley was empty but Gaara knew looks could be deceiving. He turned around and inspected the area around him. There didn't seem to be any thing amiss and he was starting to think he had just imagined the clamor. Maybe paranoia was sinking in from the light deprived alley way.

He was about to call the noise nothing and turn back around but then he heard the dissonance again. Okay, this time the red-head knew that had not been a figment of his imagination. The sound had seemed to come from behind a couple of tin trash cans on the edge of the alley. Most likely the sound was caused by a scurrying rat, but Gaara found that he was curious as to what really made the noise and went to investigate.

When he was in arms reach of the cans he quickly moved them apart to see what was hiding behind them. Something did move to hide behind one of the cans again but all Gaara could see was a drenched black tail. The tail's shape and movement indicated that the beast that it was attached to was a cat.

With the rain still relentlessly showering any poor fool who walked outside, Gaara wondered if he should just head straight home and forget about the mystery cat, or should he try and help it by finding a decent shelter for it and give it his leftovers from the restaurant. As cold-hearted as he was believed to be, he couldn't find it in himself to leave the cat like this. It would take to much time to find the feline some shelter but he could give it his food.

Removing the lid of the container in the plastic bag, with which the food was in, he knelt down and tried to persuade the cat to come near him.

"Come here kitty, kitty, kitty" Gaara called out with a piece of fish in his hand. He heard a sort of growl that did not sound quite like a cat but close to it. The stoic red-head raised a non-existent eyebrow and called out again. When the cat didn't budge from its hiding place Gaara sighed and gave up trying to help the stubborn feline.

Just as he was putting the fish back in the container he was pounced on by something much bigger than an alley cat. He was pushed back onto the flooded concrete causing an explosive pain to ricochet through his skull and his back to become drenched in rain water. He felt the container being pulled out of his hand by the creature that had just hurled itself at him. Before that could happen, however, Gaara tightened his hold on the box and yanked back causing the creature to fall forwards on to him. From the weight Gaara felt on his chest he knew that this was definitely not a cat.

He opened his eyes to see the face of a boy about just an inch away from his. Big, circular, dark eyes, framed with a pair of large eyebrows, stared into his own with fright.

The boy jumped back onto his knees and covered his head with his hands as if afraid of being hit. He started to shiver and sob from where he crouched. Gaara extended his arm intending to comfort the boy, but stopped half way when something out of the norm caught his eye.

First, the boy was only wearing a pair of thin, skin tight shorts that reached his mid-thigh which is ludicrous to wear in the freezing rain. Second, he was close to being nothing but skin and bones, as if he had not eaten in a long while. Of course, this was all minor compared to the black tail sprouting from the base of his spine and the pointed ears perched at the top of his head. The slick tail curled around the boy as if to protect him and make him a smaller target.

Gaara closed his gaping mouth, shook his head, and blinked several times. Yep, there was definitely a tail and a pair of ears on the boy.

Gaining some courage, the neko peeked through his fingers and stared at the shocked red-head, then down at the food still in his hand. Gaara stared down at the food as well then back at the frail boy. Somewhere between being pounced on and right now, the rain had stopped falling, leaving behind a drenched world. Excess rain drops fell from the boy's ink black hair as he shivered with the cold. Looking like that, just a frightened boy, Gaara could not think of him as an anomaly and sighed as he shrugged out of his jacket. First, he laid the box of food close to the boy and waited. The raven-haired boy shifted his eyes between the food and Gaara as he slowly moved closer to the box. When he tentatively grabbed the box, he kept his eyes on the red-head for a few brief moments before he quickly scooted away and immediately scarfed down the leftovers. Gaara was a little worried the neko was going to choke himself at the pace he was eating at. While the cat-boy was focused on the food, Gaara had quietly moved closer and had laid his jacket on the boy's shoulders. Jumping back a little, the boy was surprised to feel the weight of the clothing on his back, but calmed down when the warmth that remained in the cloth soothed his numb flesh. Gaara smiled a little when he heard the neko start to purr at a low sound. Then he got up onto his feet and walked away while the neko put his arms in the sleeves. There was nothing else he could do.

As he walked down the sidewalk, he wondered if any one would believe him if he told them he had met a half-human cat. Probably not. Still, he saw the cat-boy and that was enough for him. It was just an added bonus that he could help him. While he walked home his mind stayed on the neko. After he got past the shock he found that the boy was actually sort of, what would the word be? Attractive? Yeah, that seems right. Well, he found the neko cute with his dark hair, though a mess, cut into what seemed to be a bowl style. The small frame that screamed for a protector, for an owner. Midnight eyes that seemed as if they could penetrate another's soul. The best part though, for Gaara that is, would have to be that light tan skin that looked just so...tempting to taste.

Once Gaara was two blocks from his apartment, he sensed as if there was a presence behind him. He stopped where he currently was at and cursed under his breath. He must not have noticed the presence around him from his mind straying to the neko he helped. The red-head relaxed his body and kept his breathing steady, knowing it would help if it came down to a fight, as he turned around to look at his follower. At first glance he saw nothing but a deserted sidewalk and the buildings on the side of it. There was a crack between two of the buildings where someone could easily hide. 'Found you' Gaara thought.

"Well, you going to hide between the buildings forever, or are you going to come out and face me?" he called out. When he heard the footsteps of the stranger start to appear his breathing picked up slightly and his heart beat a little faster. Gaara's eyes were set to glare at whoever showed themselves to him, but widened when he actually saw who had been following him. There standing about four feet from Gaara was a boy wearing a black leather jacket too big for his small body and shorts too small for this weather. The boy's hair was a glossy black and knotted in a few places. Perched on the top of his head were a pair of ears that pulled back a bit in fear, and at the base of his spine was a tail that flicked left to right and was as dark as the boy's hair. The cat-boy had followed Gaara home. Suddenly the good deed did not seem so good. Gaara groaned at his luck, and placed his hand at his temple to soothe the slight headache coming on.

"Listen, sorry but I do not have anymore food, okay?" he told the feline. The raven-haired neko just cocked his head to the side and kept staring wordlessly. Gaara sighed, turned around, and started to head back to his apartment again. Once he started to move he instantly heard a second pair of footsteps shadowing his. The red-head stopped and growled under his breath. He turned around once again to talk to the neko.

"You cannot come home with me either, okay?" he said through gritted teeth. The cat-boy walked up to Gaara until he was no more than a foot away from him. What the raven did next caused Gaara's breathing to halt and his eyes to widen to saucers, for the cat-boy had wrapped his arms around Gaara's torso and were holding him close to his body. A small hum that could be described as a purr was emanating from the raven. His head lay on Gaara's shoulder and his ears tickled the red-head's neck. Gaara did not move for a few moments still not believing what was happening. When he finally was able to remember movement, he pushed the neko away from him out of sheer shock. He gave him a disbelieving look as the neko did nothing more than stare at him. Then the cat really surprised him.

"Lee" the cat-boy spoke. Gaara continued to look shocked while his mouth gaped just a little bit.

"W-What?" the red-head stuttered. The boy pointed to himself.

"My name is Rock Lee, but, please, call me Lee." the neko repeated. Two seconds later Gaara remembered to compose himself after staring uncomprehending at the boy, apparently, named Lee.

Trying to act like it was the most normal thing in the world to meet a boy with cat features out of nowhere, Gaara answered, "Lee, it is nice to meet you. My name is Gaara, and if you do not mind I was just heading home. So I shall see you later." He waved and walked away conscience of the footsteps following him. Gaara turned and faced Lee again somewhat annoyed.

"Is there something you want?" he said keeping his voice under control. Lee came close to Gaara like he had when he hugged him, but this time got on his hands and knees in a bow. Gaara stared at him raising a non-existent eyebrow. The dark haired boy raised his upper body to look at Gaara, but remained on his knees.

"I wanted to thank you for the food and coat you have provided me with. You do not understand how much that means to me. I want to say that I am sorry for pouncing on you when I did. I had no right to do that...and...I also wanted to ask...if maybe...you could..." the raven haired neko chewed on his bottom lip and twiddled his fingers for awhile contemplating on asking Gaara his question. Gaara raised an eyebrow in question, but, other than that, waited patiently.

Finally, leaving behind all dignity and pride, Lee jumped onto the red-head's right leg and held on while he cried,

"Please! Please! Please! Please! PLEEEEAAAASSSSE! Please let me stay with you! I cannot take the alleys anymore! I promise I will not be a burden! Just please let me stay with you!"

Gaara had nearly fallen back at the surprise jump, but had caught himself in time to avoid landing on the pavement. Ignoring the cat's cries, he tried to pull the stubborn neko off his leg, jostle him off, and then attempt to pull him off again. All the while Lee's begging became louder with every attempt the red-head made to remove him from his leg. Looking around to make sure nobody was viewing the spectacle; Gaara officially gave up and harshly whispered, "Fine! You can stay with me for awhile; just stop making so much noise!"

At this news, Lee jumped off of Gaara's leg and was now letting off a beaming smiling as he pulled the red-head into another hug.

"Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Lee whispered as low as he could while keeping the enthusiasm in his voice. Underlying Lee's words was a soft purr that caused Gaara's face to go warm, making him feel embarrassed for blushing. Pulling off the neko from himself, he sighed quietly and led the way to his apartment.

Once inside the small living space, Gaara worked on finding a pillow, and blanket for Lee so that he could be comfortable sleeping on the couch. Meanwhile, Lee had hung up the jacket he had been offered earlier and was now adventuring through the tiny apartment with awe. He found this place to be much better than the alley. He stopped when he reached the kitchen and took in the smells that were wafting through the air. His mouth watered at what entered his nostrils. The raven was tempted to look through the cabinets and fridge to find the source of the aromas, but he had promised the nice man, Gaara, that he would not burden him. Stealing food without asking was out of the question.

"Do you know how to take a bath or a shower?" Gaara called from the living area. Lee jumped at the voice but quickly yelled his confirmation.

"The bathroom is to your left. Go and get clean."

"Yes, sir!"

xXx

Rice and mild curry were currently cooking in the kitchen. Gaara had noticed how Lee was attracted to the kitchen and thought maybe the boy was still hungry. The food was almost done when he heard the door to the bathroom open.

After Gaara heard the door click shut he called out, "Hey, after you eat, you'll have to go straight to be- OH MY-!"

The red-head had turned to talk to Lee, but had been...surprised...when he saw the cat was completely naked. Every piece of tanned skin was on display for whoever was around. Left over water from the shower dripped off the small, lithe body, and Gaara found himself staring at a single drop's journey down a hairless chest with rosebud nipples and across a thin abdomen. He tore his eyes away before they headed any farther south than that.

Fighting the blush that threatened to consume his face and neck, Gaara stuttered, "L-Lee, why d-don't you h-h-have a towel?"

Lee kept his eyes on Gaara's red face and cocked his head to the left wondering why his friend was blushing. "There wasn't any in the bathroom so I came out to ask you if there were any others elsewhere. Also, if...you could spare me some old clothes to wear."

Lee had not wanted to ask for anything from Gaara since the red-head had let him stay, but all the neko had was those thin shorts, which were now soaked from the rain water.

Gaara had turned back to the food trying to keep his eyes away from the exposed boy.

"There should be a towel in my room at the end of my bed. My room is behind the door in the living room. Actually, why don't you keep an eye on the food and make sure it does not burn while I go and get your towel and some extra clothes?" Gaara said quickly as he made his way to his room.

He quickly grabbed the towel on his bed and searched his drawers for a pair of pants and a shirt. None of what Gaara had was small enough for Lee's thin frame. After searching for awhile he came out with a small set of elastic sweat pants, and a thin t-shirt he had received last year, but never wore.

He headed back to the kitchen with the clothes and towel in hand. The sight he came to was not what he was expecting. There stood Lee licking his hand free of curry sauce and the pot that held the curry dumped on the floor.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Gaara screamed at the scene before him. Lee immediately looked towards the enraged red-head with shame and guilt as he pulled his curry stained fingers from his mouth. How could Gaara have missed the sound of the pot falling off the stove? Lee's tail swung in between his legs in fright. Was Gaara going to kick him out? The red-head calmly placed the clothes on the table and looked towards the culprit of the curry mess.

"I'll let this slide. Just get dressed and head to bed, okay?"

Lee shook his head fast, grabbed the items on the table, and headed into to the bathroom to change. Gaara sighed and cleaned up the mess on the floor hoping there wouldn't be any more incidents like this one. Eventually, Lee came out fidgeting with the back of the elastic pants trying to get his tail to fit comfortably without showing off his ass. Gaara stared as Lee struggled and grabbed a pair of scissors to help the neko with his problem. Lee turned around and let Gaara cut a hole near the waist line for his extra appendage. While cutting out the hole for the tail, Gaara found his hand rubbing Lee's round bottom. He did not do it on purpose but blushed none the less. He pulled back before any 'unsettling' thoughts could occur. Lee swiftly moved his tail through the cut-out and thanked Gaara. Though he wondered why his friend's face was so red.

"I'm...I'm sorry about the mess. It was really delicious though." Lee apologized. Gaara mumbled an 'ok' and headed off towards his room for sleep, though with his random insomnia and with a sexy neko staying in his house, he wondered just how much sleep he was really going to get.

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**Thank you for taking the time to read the beginning of this story. Unfortunately, I'm conflicted on continuing this since I'm highly lazy, and I have many other ideas I really need to get started on. If you like it and want more please tell me and I'll try and continue with this one.**


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